Hair Straightener with Magnetic Means

ABSTRACT

A hair styling apparatus includes a styling head, the styling head has a contact styling surface for contact styling of hair, a heater and a magnet. The magnet is disposed so that magnetic force due to the magnet appears on the styling surface.

This invention relates to hair styling means and apparatus and, moreparticularly, to hair styling irons such as hair curling irons and hairstraightening irons. More specifically, although of course not solelylimited thereto, this invention relates to handheld hair styling withheated styling heads.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair styling apparatus are widely used in hair applications. A commontype of hair styling apparatus is tong-shaped and comprises a pair ofhinged arms with a pair of heated styling heads, which are mounted onthe free ends of the hinged arms with the styling surfaces facing eachother. Hair is typically styled, for example, by a pair of curling orstraightening heads, when the pair of heated styling heads is incompressive engagement. Another common type of hair styling apparatus isflute-shaped and comprises a handle with an elongated metallic rod whichis substantially coaxial with the handle. The elongated metallic rodcomprises a heated styling head and a spring-biased clamping arm, whichis hinged to the apparatus near the junction between the handle and themetallic rod. Hair is compressively held between the clamp and thestyling head during styling. The aforementioned hair styling apparatusare commonly and collectively known as hair styling irons.

Although heated styling heads provide a useful and convenient means forhair styling, the degree and duration of heating required is known to bedamaging to hair. Hence, it will be desirable if improved styling meanscan be provided to alleviate shortcomings of conventional hair stylingmeans.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provideimproved hair styling means. At a minimum, it is an object of thisinvention to provide alternative hair styling means as a usefulalternative for the public.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Broadly speaking, the present invention has described a hair stylingapparatus comprising a styling head, said styling head comprises acontact styling surface for contact styling of hair, heating means and amagnet, characterised in that said magnet is disposed so that magneticforce due to said magnet appears on said styling surface.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there isprovided a hair styling apparatus comprising a pair of styling heads,each said styling head comprises a contact styling surface for contactstyling of hair when in cooperation with the contact styling surface ofa counterpart styling head, heating means and a magnet, characterised inthat said magnet is disposed so that magnetic force due to said magnetappears on said styling surface, wherein the magnetic polarity on thecontact styling surfaces of a counterpart pair of styling heads is thesame.

According to another preferred embodiment, there is provided a hairapparatus comprising a pair of heated styling heads, a magnet and a pairof cooling heads, each said heated styling head comprises a contactstyling surface for contact styling of hair when in cooperation with thecontact styling surface of a counterpart styling head, each cooling headcomprises a cooling surface for contact cooling of hair exiting fromsaid contact styling surface, wherein said magnet is disposed so thatmagnetic force due to said magnet appears on said styling surface, saidcooling heads are disposed immediately adjacent to said heated stylingheads and said cooling surface comprises a non-metallic heat sinkingmass.

Preferably, a magnetic density of between 300-20,000 Gauss appears onsaid styling surface.

Preferably, said magnetic density is about 4,000 Gauss.

Preferably, said magnet comprises a permanent magnet slab, said contactstyling surface being magnetic permeable, said magnet slab beingdisposed underneath said styling surface so that magnetic field of saidmagnet slab is distributed on said contact styling surface.

Preferably, said permanent magnet slab, said heating means and saidcontact styling surface forms a sub-assembly which is resilientlymovable relative to the main housing of said styling apparatus.

Preferably, said non-metallic heating mass comprises a slab of rock-likesubstances with a high heat mass, such as granite, marble, quartz, micaor the like.

Preferably, a metallic heat sink is attached to said heating mass fordissipating heat away from said contact cooling surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained infurther detail below by way of examples and with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a first preferred embodiment of a hairstraightener of this invention in its closed position,

FIG. 1A is a side view showing the apparatus of FIG. 1 in its openposition,

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the styling apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 1A,

FIG. 3A shows a cross section of the styling head portion of theapparatus of FIG. 2 along the section line A-A,

FIG. 3B illustrates in more detail the internal structure of the headportion of FIG. 3A,

FIG. 4A shows a cross section of the cooling head of the hair stylingapparatus of FIG. 2 along the section B-B,

FIG. 4B shows in more detail the internal structure of the cooling headof FIG. 4A,

FIG. 5 shows a second preferred embodiment of a hair straightener ofthis invention,

FIG. 5A shows the apparatus of FIG. 5 with the cooling heads in the openposition,

FIG. 5B is an end view showing the cooling heads of FIG. 5A in theflipped open position,

FIG. 6 is a top view of a third preferred embodiment of a hairstraightener of this invention, and

FIG. 6A is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 4B, there is shown a handheld hair stylingapparatus illustrating a first preferred embodiment of this invention.The hair styling apparatus 100 comprises a handle 110 and a pair ofstyling members 130. The handle resembles a pair of tongs and comprisesa pair of arms 113, 115 which are pivotally joined at a hinge 117 neartheir respective ends so that arms 113,115 are pivotally movable aboutthe pivotal hinge 117 between a fully “opened” position and a fully“close” position. The pair of styling members comprises a pair ofstyling heads 131, 133 which are disposed at corresponding locationsnear the fee ends of the handles distal to the hinge 117. The handle 110and the styling heads 131, 133 are disposed so that, when the pair ofarms is at the “closed” position, tresses of hair can be engaged underpressure by the styling surfaces 135, 137 for contact hair styling. Onthe other hand, when the pair of arms is at the “opened” position,tresses of hair can be captured or released. The pair of arms ispreferably ergonomically shaped so that a user can operate the stylingapparatus 100 with a single hand.

Each of the arms comprises a hollow and elongated main housing 120 foraccommodating electrical parts or other components which are necessaryor useful for controlling styling operation by the styling heads. Themain housing can be made of durable plastics or other appropriatematerials known to persons skilled in the art. An electrical power cord140 is connected to near the pivoted end of the handle so that supplyingoperating power can be supplied to the electrical parts, for example,heating elements of the styling apparatus. A master electrical switch(not shown) is provided on the main housing to control power supplybetween the electrical parts and the mains power supply. The masterelectrical switch can be a conventional electrical switch such as aslide switch, a push-button switch, a rocker switch or other appropriateswitches.

The pivotal hinge 117 joining the pair of arms may be spring biased sothat the arms are urged towards the open position when a user or alocking mechanism is not holding the arms together. A pair of latch 119for holding the pair of arms at the closed position is provided near thepivoted ends of the arms. The latch can be a rotary lock as shown inFIGS. 3 and 5. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the pair of handles are lockedin the closed position when the ridge on the rotary lock is orthogonalto the longitudinal axis of the handle. In the ridge position of FIG. 5when the ridge is parallel to the handle's longitudinal axis, thehandles are in the opened position. This rotary lock 119 keeps the pairof styling heads and arms in a bundle form for a very compact designwith the longitudinal axes of all the four pieces substantially parallelof course, other locks can be used to lock and un-lock the pair ofhandles to prevent them from spring apart. As a convenient example,another appropriate lock comprises a rotary wedge which is rotatableabout an axis which is substantially parallel to the pivotal axis. Therotary wedge is disposed at the pivoted end of the handles and beyondthe pivotal joint so that the rotary wedge can slide to fit into thespace or gap between the ends of the handles to keep them in the closedposition, like a wedge. Likewise, the handles are opened when the rotarywedge are rotated away from the space between the ends of the handles,whereby the handles are released.

Each styling head 131, 133 comprises a contact styling surface 141, 143,electric heating means 145 and a magnet 147. The contact styling surface141, 143 is formed from a thermally conductive material which ispermeable to magnetic field. Aluminum, aluminum alloys, copper andcopper alloys, coated glass are examples of suitable materials. Electricheating means 145 for providing distributed heating to the contactstyling surface are disposed underneath the contact styling surface.Resistive heating elements, Infra-red heating elements, glass-typecoated heaters, PTC heating elements and other distributed heatingelements are examples of suitable as heating means. The magnet isinstalled so that its magnetic force will appear on the contact stylingsurface to supplement styling by the heating means to be explainedbelow.

In this example, the contact styling surface comprises a metallic sheetwhich is magnetic permeable. The magnet 147 is a permanent magnet slabwhich is disposed underneath the contact styling surface 141, 143 andthe heating means 145. With this arrangement, the magnetic strength ofthe magnetic slab can penetrate the contact styling surface and interactwith tresses of hair being styled by the heating means during stylingoperation. The magnetic slab can be made of ferro-, nickel-,cobalt-magnetic materials, magnetic alloys or appropriate magneticsubstances. Experiments and studies show that the application of amagnetic flux of about 300-20,000 Gauss at the contact styling surfaceduring styling will significantly mitigate adverse influence of hair dueto the heating required for styling. Hence, a magnet slab which producesa magnetic flux of 300-20,000 Gauss, preferably 4,000 Gauss, is used inthis example. As an alternative or in addition, an electromagnet can beused to produce the above-mentioned appropriate level of magnetic fluxto supplement heated hair styling. If an electomagnet is used, theelectromagnet can be heat conductive and can be disposed intermediatethe contact styling surface and the electric heating means.

It is noted that when the magnets on the corresponding styling heads aredisposed so that the magnetic polarity of the magnetic filed appearingon the pair of corresponding contact styling surfaces are the same, thestyling effects are better. To further make use of the advantage ofmagnetism on human body, a negative magnetism or negative magneticpolarity as known to therapeutic applications is applied to appear onthe contact styling surface. Because of like magnetic polarity on thecontact styling surface, the pair of styling heads is repulsive to eachother.

In this example, the styling head 131, 133, comprising the heating means145, the magnet 147 and the contact styling surface 141, 143, is amodule contained in a non-magnetic permeable metallic housing. Thestyling head module is resiliently supported on the main housing and isunder spring bias 151 so that tresses of hair engaged between the pairof styling heads are under an appropriate maximum compressive stress.Although the contact styling surface is planar in this example so thatthe apparatus is essentially a hair straightener, it will be understoodthat the contact surfaces can be made correspondingly wavy, curvy,ribbed, rippled etc for hair curling or other styling applications.

As an alternative example, this invention can be applied in a rod-typestyling device which comprises a styling head with a rod-type handle anda spring urged hair clamp pivotally attached to the handle under springbias. The hair styling head can be one which is similar to thatdescribed above. A magnet slab is disposed on the hair clamp so thatmagnetic flux of the same polarity as that of the contact stylingsurface of the styling head will appear on the corresponding contactsurfaces of the hair clamp and the contact styling surface. In analternative design, the clamp arm is not equipped with a magnet slab oris not made of a magnetic material so the magnet slab is the sole sourceof magnetic flux for hair styling. Likewise, the styling head of thisrod-type apparatus can be cylindrical with a convexly curved contactstyling surface. A curved, non-curved or appropriately shaped magnetslab, including, for example, an ensemble of magnet strips or elongatedmagnetic slabs, can be disposed underneath the convex contact stylingsurface without loss of generality.

Although the precise mechanism by which magnetic flux interact with hairto mitigate damage due to heating is not yet fully understood, it isbelieved that the application of an appropriate level of magnetic fluxto hair during heated styling helps to retain moisture in hair or helpto alleviate or mitigate damage to protein or other organic substancesof the hair. It is further believed that moisture retention may relateto ionic interaction with the magnetic flux. As a result, enhanced hairstyling can be achieved.

Hair styling by direct heating on hair is convenient and efficient formost practical hair styling applications. The styling surfaces of a hairstyling appartus are usually heated to between 120° C.-200° C. in orderto provide a more permanent hair styling while not burning hair.However, heating of hair to this elevated temperature range is damagingto hair. For example, studies show that heating of hair at an elevatedtemperature of 180° C. (which is usual for a heated hair styling ion)for 2-3 seconds is sufficiently damaging to hair. To alleviate suchadverse side effects of heated hair styling apparatus, a cooling meansis provided in this invention. This cooling means provides a two-foldadvantage. Firstly, the cooling means helps to depress the temperatureof the hair which has just exited from the heated contact surface tobelow a hair damaging temperature. Secondly, the cooling performs as acold shock to the hair just heated and provides better setting.

In the first preferred embodiment of this invention as described above,a cooling means is also provided. However, it should be understood thatthis cooling means is provided only as a useful option and is not anecessary part of the above-described hair styling apparatus with amagnetic hair styling head. Specifically, the heated styling heads canbe without a magnet to illustrate a styling apparatus with the coolingmeans.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 4A and 4B, the hair styling apparatus furthercomprises cooling means in the form of a pair of cooling heads 161, 163attached to the unpivoted ends of the handle 110. The pair of coolingheads 161, 163 are disposed, immediately adjacent to the pair of heatedstyling heads 131, 133 and are disposed in such a manner thatimmediately after tresses of hair having been heated by the contact hairstyling surfaces, the tresses of hair will be compressively engaged bythe contact cooling surfaces 165, 167 of the pair of cooling heads whenthe hair being styled is being drawn so that the temperature of thetresses of hair can be depressed quickly to below the damagingtemperature. An elongated air-gap 171 is disposed between a cooling head161, 163 and a heated styling head 131, 133 to insulate the cooling headfrom the heated styling head. A plurality of venting apertures 169 areprovided on the cooling heads for more efficient heat dissipation orsinking.

Turning to FIGS. 4A and 4B, a preferred example of a cooling head 161,163 is illustrated. The cooling head comprises a heat sinking meanswhich has a relatively large heat mass so that heat from the hair can bereadily absorbed by the heat sinking mass without significantly raisingthe temperature of the heat sinking mass. This large heat mass ensuresan effective heat sinking for a reasonably long period during theoperation of the heat styling apparatus. A slab 171 of marble, granite,quartz, mica, ceramics and other rocks, rock-like materials or mineralsof a sufficiently large heat mass is utilized as a passive heat sinkingmeans. Alternatively, active cooling means, such as the use of Peltierelements, can be used as an active cooling means.

To further enhance the heat sinking capacity of the heat sinking mass, aheat sink 173 is attached to the back side of the heat sinking masswhich is not in contact with the tresses of hair. The heat sink can be athermally conductive plate made, for example, of aluminum, aluminumalloy, steel or other approprate substances which are made intoappropriate heat sinking surface configurations for more effective heatsinking. A plurality of heat sinking apertures 169 are disposed on themain housing 169 of the cooling head and along the length of the heatsinking mass to facilitate more efficient heat dissipation byventilation. The combination of the heat sinking mass and the heatsinking back-plate are formed as a module supported by a spring 175 sothat the combination module is resiliently supported on the main housingof the cooling head so that the tresses of hair being engaged can becompressively held or under a reasonably constant or maximum pressure.Although the heat sinking means shown in this example is a planar stoneslab for a hair straightener, it will be appreciated that the stone slabcan be appropriately shaped for other styling applications as mentionedin relation to the magnetic styling head.

Referring next to FIGS. 5, 5A and 5B, a second preferred embodiment ofthis invention. The second preferred embodiment of a hair stylingapparatus is in the form of a hair straightener 200 comprising a pair ofpivotally joined handles, a pair of heated styling heads 231, 233 and apair of cooling heads 261, 263. The internal structure of a pair ofheated styling hair and a pair of cooling heads are substantiallysimilar to those described above or other appropriate structures asknown to persons skilled in the art upon reading the above. In thispreferred embodiment, the pair of cooling heads 261, 263 are pivotallymounted at their respective longitudinal ends so that the contactcooling surfaces 265, 267 can be flipped in or flipped out so that thecooling step can be applied or not applied respectively.

FIGS. 6 and 6A illustrates a third preferred embodiment of a similartong-hair straightener 300 comprising a pair of pivotally joinedhandles, a pair of heated styling heads 331, 333 and a pair of coolingheads 361, 363. In this preferred embodiment, the main housing of thehair straightener 300 comprises a slide engagement means so that thepair of cooling heads can be slidably attached or detached from the mainhousing of the hair straightener 300 so that cooling can be applied ornot applied according to the will of a user.

In the above preferred embodiments with cooling heads comprising passiveheat sinking masses such as slabs of marble or other rocks, it will beunderstood that since the hair styling apparatus is usually stored inroom temperature before use and because of the large heat mass of thepassive heat sinking mass, hair can be quickly cooled down to roomtemperature or near room temperature upon exit from the heated stylingheads. Consequently, satisfactory hair setting by heating can beachieved without excessive damage to the hair.

While the present invention has been explained by reference to theexamples or preferred embodiments described above, it will beappreciated that those are examples to assist understanding of thepresent invention and are not meant to be restrictive. The scope of thisinvention should be determined and/or inferred from the preferredembodiments described above and with reference to the Figures whereappropriate or when the context requires. In particular, variations ormodifications which are obvious or trivial to persons skilled in theart, as well as improvements made thereon, should be considered asfalling within the scope and boundary of the present invention.

Furthermore, while the present invention has been explained by referenceto hair straighteners and handheld hair curlers, it should beappreciated that the invention can apply, whether with or withoutmodification, to other hair styling apparatus without loss ofgenerality.

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 10. A hair stylingapparatus comprising a pair of heated styling heads arranged for contactstyling of hair, and a pair of cooling heads defining a pair of contactcooling surfaces, wherein said cooling heads are disposed immediatelyadjacent said heated styling heads and are arranged for compressivelyengaging hair upon exit of said hair from said contact styling surfacefor contact cooling of said hair, and a heat sinking mass is attached toa cooling head for dissipating heat away from said contact coolingsurface.
 11. A hair styling apparatus according to claim 10, whereinsaid heat sinking mass is non-metallic and comprises a slab of rock-likesubstances with a high heat mass.
 12. A hair styling apparatus accordingto claim 11, wherein a metallic heat sink is attached to saidnon-metallic heat sinking mass for dissipating heat away from saidnon-metallic heat sinking mass.
 13. A hair styling apparatus accordingto claim 12, further comprising a magnet, wherein said magnet isdisposed so that magnetic force appearing on said styling surface has amagnetic density of between 300-20,000 Gauss.
 14. A hair stylingapparatus according to claim 13, wherein said magnetic density is about4,000 Gauss.
 15. A hair styling apparatus according to claim 14, whereinsaid magnet comprises a permanent magnet slab, said contact stylingsurface being magnetic permeable, said magnet slab being disposedunderneath said styling surface so that magnetic field of said magnetslab is distributed on said contact styling surface.
 16. A hair stylingapparatus according to claim 15, wherein said permanent magnet slab,said heating means and said contact styling surface forms a sub-assemblywhich is resiliently movable relative to the main housing of saidstyling apparatus.
 17. A hair styling apparatus according to claim 12,wherein said non-metallic heat sinking mass and said metallic heat sinkare formed as a module and resiliently supported on a housing of saidhair styling apparatus.
 18. A hair styling apparatus according to claim17, wherein said pair of heated styling heads and said pair of coolingheads are side-by-side arranged for hair straightening.
 19. A hairstyling apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said pair of coolingheads are arranged for cold shocking hair upon exit of heated hair fromsaid pair of styling heads.
 20. A hair styling apparatus according toclaim 18, wherein said pair of cooling heads is pivotally mounted suchthat the pair of contact cooling surfaces can be flipped in for contactcooling and flipped out for non-contact with hair.
 21. A hair stylingapparatus according to claim 18, wherein an elongate air-gap is disposedintermediate a heated styling head and an adjacent cooling head forinsulating said cooling head from said heated styling head.
 22. A hairstyling apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said permanent magnetslab, said heating means and said contact styling surface forms asub-assembly which is resiliently movable relative to the main housingof said styling apparatus.
 23. A hair styling apparatus according toclaim 11, wherein said rock like substance is selected from the groupcomprising granite, marble, quartz and mica.